this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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Fuck Cars

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A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Bikes are actually greener than walking, because if you need to move, they allow you to have a greater daily range for a not much higher footprint (more efficient and 3 times faster).

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Embedded CO2 for a bike is like 100kg (that's what 4 trees in your backyard absorb a year), which over a lifetime of 30 years is negligible.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You say negligible, but what you mean is negligible on a scale of the CO2 emissions we are used to. Human body CO2 emission is just as negligible on that scale.

Ill do some quick maths: According to the first source on google, an average human burns 3kcal/min walking and 5kcal/min biking at 15km/h, which is about 3x as fast as walking. Considering that, we arrive at a difference of 1.33kcal/min by walking instead of biking. Estimates suggest 1.3g CO2-equivalents per kcal for average consumption (much lower for vegans), so thats 1.73g CO2/min. 100kg CO2 for bike production would take 57,800min of walking, thats almost 963h. An average bike will probably be used more so I guess you are right and bikes are indeed more efficient than walking :D

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

CO2 emissions that fall within natural cycles in terms of scale, are negligible.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I agree, but the question at hand was not whether one or the other was negligible, but which is more efficient: walking or biking.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I responded to the wrong comment, sorry

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

It's faster to make bikes than legs

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It's also really green if you die riding one in places where it's completely unsafe to ride one like where I live. You eliminate your carbon footprint completely!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I was so excited to finally live in a city where I could actually ride a bike to work most of the year until I actually tried it.

Drivers are assholes, have no awareness of their surroundings, the rules of the road and they give zero shits.

Nope nope nope. I'll walk to the train

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's not really the drivers' fault, it's the bad infrastructure that drives their behavior.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I'm talking about running stop signs, gunning it at yellow lights, not using turn signals, using turn signals but not turning, swerving into bike lanes and flinging open their doors without looking.

Infrastructure like protected bike lanes and robust public transit so fewer people feel the need to drive are great, but bad driving is bad driving.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I lived somewhere with trains half my life ago, it was very nice. I have no trains or buses or sidewalks or even a shoulder on the road. Just fast two-lane curvy backroads with a ditch on the side.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Even greener if the murderer in the car gets thrown in jail!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I can say the same about public transportation